Depths of Dreams
by frozensunshine
Summary: Taito/Sorato. Being pulled into the digital world was one thing, but Yamato is not prepared for being pulled into his own mind...
1. The Streets Were Blue

The streets were blue

****************

This came to me in a dream one night. It is a semi-love story, but really. So far there's not certain couples. I think I'm probably going to have all sorts of couples in here. And, I technically haven't gotten permission from the Empress of the Eclipse to use her band members yet, but if she gets mad I can always take the story off the net and change the names. But her band is just the coolest aren't they?

I don't own Digimon.

****************

The streets were blue. Dark blue. And no one was around. The place was deserted, leaving him completely by himself. Where did everybody go? They had only been there a few seconds earlier. They were all partying with the pink and purple mice. It had been him, Akemi, Istu…

Wait. Mice? Where did that come from? Pink and Purple? Of course. All mice talk and are pink and purple, right? But now they were all gone. The blue road was changing colors again. It had been yellow before; now it was going to red. Kind of a pinkish red.

Pink? Wait, there's Mimi! "Hey Mimi!" Why doesn't she talk back? Or is she talking? Now he can hear her. Her voice is so melodic… so sweet… like honey. Too much pink. Why was everything pink? Where dolphins always pink? He couldn't remember them ever being…

Wait! Dolphins! He could see it now. Sea World. He loved Sea World. But where had the houses and streets gone to? What houses and streets? He'd been at Sea World since that morning. The houses started to fade from his memory. There had been no houses or blue streets… no party…

"Let's go on that one!"

He looked at Sora. "Okay."

They ran to the amusement ride, but it was hard getting there. Sora was ahead of him. He couldn't push through the crowd. What was up with this? Why was it taking him so long to get to Sora? He managed to run up the ramp leading onto the boat right before it set out to sea. Now where had Tai gone?

He frowned. Where was Tai? Hadn't they just been together? How'd they get split up? No matter. There are people talking to him. People he doesn't know. A girl with black hair... Sora would be jealous. Too bad. The girl was nice. He followed her to the front of the boat where a basketball game was being held. Wait, what boat?

None. There hadn't been a boat. He hated being on stage like this… in front of everyone… his band playing horribly. It was a nightmare. And why is Istu staring at him like that? It's unnerving. It's making it hard for him to sing. They needed to practice more. No one likes a band that can't play their instruments.

Does Davis have to keep staring at him like that? He just wanted to stop playing to tell Davis to stop, but Tai would be mad. Tai always got upset whenever he quit playing in the middle of a song to gripe at Cody. But still… it was tempting.

Wait. What's that? He'd never seen anything like that before. It was a hole. In the middle of the stage. It wasn't very big. He was drawn to it. Joe gave him a dirty look as he stopped. The fans seemed upset too. But he had to know. He had to see what was in it. He leaned over the edge and peered in.

Nothing.

It was a bottomless pit. Kari didn't understand it either. She shrugged and went back to swinging on the swings. The ice cream in his hand was melting so he through it in the hole, thinking that maybe it would make a sound when it hit bottom. Nope. It was definitely a bottomless pit.

But wait!

What's that? The poor thing! 'Oh no! It's Koromon!' Where was Tai when you needed him? Koromon was hanging on to the edge of the hole. Maybe if he could get TK to find Tai. No. He'd take too long. Koromon would fall. No need to bug Joe anyway. He could easily get Koromon out of the hole.

There's Tai.

Acting like a big shot as always. 'Yeah, well, I saved you digimon so who cares how great you are at soccer!' It still bothered him, though. He wanted to show Tai that he was good at… stuff… too. But how? There was nothing around. Oh wait! That's it! The hole. Tai was terrified of holes! If he could only jump down in but grab the edge and swing back up…

Where's the ledge? 'NO! Come back!' He couldn't grab it. He fell farther into the black hole. Sora stared down at him with a questioningly glance. Where was he going? Was he going to die? This was it! This was how he was going to die! Falling into some bottomless pit; never to see anyone ever again.

It hurt! Something was squeezing him! It made him feel like his insides were being crushed. Like a strong hand had taken a hold of him. The Devil's maybe? He was going to die. He was going to die. No more life. Everything was getting more painful now. The hand clutched him tighter and tighter, refusing to let go…

Then he was released.

"Matt! Get up! You're going to be late for school! Matt!"

Mr. Ishida looked towards his son's room. The door remained closed and no sound came, indicating that Matt was obviously ignoring him and choosing to sleep. Grumbling under his breath, Mr. Ishida stomped to the room. He banged on the door, but still got nothing. He could hear Matt's alarm going off. What was with his son anyway?

"Matt, I said get up!" Mr. Ishida shouted as he flung the door open. Matt had his blankets pulled over his head, but one arm stuck out from underneath. He didn't move. Mr. Ishida turned off the alarm clock. The beeping noise was rather agitating! "Now, Matt, I hope you don't plan to do this everyday because I am not going to fight you. Matt? Matt? MATT?"

Still nothing.

"Matt…" Mr. Ishida said softly. He reached over and touched his son's arm, withdrawing quickly. It was icy. Frightened, Mr. Ishida jerked the blankets off. Matt was pale. Terrifyingly pale. His lips were blue and he looked so… cold. Was he even breathing?!?!?!

"Matt! Oh my Lord! Matt? Please!" Mr. Ishida cried. He pulled his son up to a sitting position and shook him lightly. Matt was limp in his arms. He carefully laid Matt back down and grabbed his wrist. "Oh please don't be dead. Please…"

A heart beat.

He gave a sigh with relief. It was faint, but it was there. Gently setting his son's wrist back down, Mr. Ishida ran to the phone. What had happened? Matt was so healthy the night before… Was he sick? But how? He couldn't get that sick in so little time, could he?

Where was he falling to? Where was he now? The only way he could tell he was falling was because of the giant spirals that were zooming past. Other than that, his hair wasn't flapping like it normally would if you were falling, or his clothes. There was no wind. No air. It was all nothing. Just blackness. And the spirals whooshing by, of course.

What had happened? He'd thought everything was a dream! He KNEW it was! But now everything was real. He'd fallen into a black hole in his dream… what had happened to his body? Maybe his mind was trapped somewhere. But where? How could your mind get trapped in your own head?

He had to get to those spirals. There was something about them that made him feel an urge to grab onto one of them. But they were so far away… How could he get to them? Maybe if he tried walking… on what?

He still tried. He could walk… while he was falling… this was… possible? He managed to reach the closest spiral, though it seemed like an hours. Walking on nothing was rather hard to do.

The doctor closed the hospital room's door quietly. Matt's mom and dad, and friends were waiting outside of the room. They were all stricken with fear and wondered what was going on. The only thing that most of them knew was that they'd been taken out of school because something was wrong with their friend, Matt Ishida.

Everyone watched the doctor walk towards them apprehensively. He looked solemn, making them all think the worst had happened. The doctor sighed and started. "I'm sorry, but your son has fallen into a comma. We don't exactly know how, but some serious brain activity is going on. We're completely stumped to be frank."

"A c-comma? You don't know how? He just slipped into a…" Matt's mother said. She burst into tears "Why Matt? What has happened to my baby?"

TK tried to comfort her, but was doing a very good job considering he was in shock himself. Matt? In a comma? For no reason? That didn't make sense to him… that didn't make sense at all! How could someone just fall into a comma? There must have been something wrong. The doctors must have done something wrong.

"Can we see him?" Tai asked. His voice shivered. What if Matt had some rare disease? What if Matt never came out of his comma? No, that wouldn't happen. Matt would make it. He always made it through everything. He reminded Tai of a dog that just kept coming home.

The doctor nodded and they rushed into Matt's room. He still looked incredibly pale and sickly. Tai, Sora, and TK crowded on one side of the hospital bed and his parents got on the other side. The others stood at the bottom. Matt looked so… lifeless. He looked so away from reality, and, shockingly enough, like he'd never come back to them.

How far was this thing? It couldn't really be a bottomless pit could it? There was no such thing. He looked up. The hole he'd fallen through had disappeared, or at least he couldn't see it anymore. He frowned and turned around to look at the spiral that he was standing on. It was pinkish white. Why did everything have to be pink? Maybe he'd fallen into Mimi's mind…

"That probably would happen to me. My life is full of such _fun_ stuff," he grumbled. But his hope sparked when he saw a door. He ran to it and opened it. The place on the other side was dark. 'Great, more blackness. Pink and black, I'm beginning to hate those colors…"

To his surprise, lights flickered on. He could now see that it was a white room. A very LARGE white room and went on forever, like the hole. Everything was so white! It was blinding! He'd been told once that it took .03 seconds for a person to go insane if they were stuck inside a completely white room with no end. 'Well, there's only one way to find out…'

He stepped inside.

"Look! Matt's eyes are opening!"

Everyone gasped as Matt's eyes opened. They didn't seem to be staring at anything, but to them it was a flicker of hope. Yolei ran to get the doctor while the others prayed that this was an advance in his condition. Yolei and the doctor came running in, the others moving out of the way so the man could check Matt.

He sighed. "I'm sorry. This isn't an improvement. Sometimes a comma patient's eyes will open for a little while. They'll probably be closing in a few minutes."

Their hopes were shattered.

The white room changed almost immediately. As soon as he took a step, everything went from completely white to something familiar: his house. He didn't understand it. His house was so… clean. And what had happened to the white room? He knew it had been there. 'Maybe I've gone crazy like I guessed.'

"Matt! Hey buddy!"

He spun around. "Tai?"

"Of course! Who'd you think I was? Santa Claus?" Tai appeared to be quite happy. It made Matt smile.

"I must be in another dream…" Matt said. Tai's eyes twinkled.

"Not quite, but very close," Tai laughed. He smiled warmly at Matt. "You're not afraid are you?"

"No. Just confused. Where are I if not a dream? Am I alive or dead?" Matt asked. With each question he got more and more confused. Tai chuckled at his bewilderment and took his hand, still smiling just as warmly as before. Matt smiled back, although a bit uneasy now.

"You'll be fine. You're not dead. And I'll take care of you," Tai whispered.

"Uh, Tai?"

Tai laughed again, more wild now. "You have no idea, do you?"

"Idea about what?" Matt asked. He shook his hand away from Tai's, eyeing the brunette suspiciously.

Tai suddenly became very serious. "I love you Matt."

"WHAT?!?!?!" Matt yelped and leaped away from Tai. "Okay, now I KNOW this is a dream! This is all a dream! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

"Matt shut up!"

Matt spun around only to come face to face with TK. "TK?"

"Well duh! You are seriously stupid, you know that?" TK growled. Matt backed away from his younger brother, bumping against Tai. He yelped again and moved away from Tai also.

"What's going on?" Matt asked, shivering.

"TK! Let me!" Tai said abruptly. TK scowled and looked away. Tai turned to Matt and said softly, "We're the same people Matt. You're not in a dream. You're deep inside yourself – inside your mind. You're seeing the things about us that you've known all along, but hid inside yourself and refused to believe."

Matt took this in and frowned. "So I've always known that TK's a jerk and that you… love me?"

"That's right. Do you want a cookie?" TK snorted. Matt and Tai ignored him.

"Yes. You always pushed these things down. Now you get to see your subconscious version of us! Isn't that fun?"

"No. It's not. I want to go home." Matt slid down the wall and pulled his knees up to his chest. This was not happening. It couldn't be. This was all a dream. This was all a dream. This was all a DREAM!

Something buzzed and a little screen popped up above Matt. He stared at it, a bit confused, not that he hadn't been already. He gave Tai a questioningly look and the brunette happily explained.

"Your seeing what's going on outside," Tai said cheerfully.

Matt frowned. "Out side?"

"Yeah! Like as in – how should I put this – what's going on outside of your mind. What you're seeing," Tai explained. Matt nodded and looked back at his screen. He could see his mom, dad, brother, Sora, the other Tai, and everyone else. They looked so worried… so upset. Some of them were crying.

But there was no sound. Matt glanced back at Tai. "Why can't I hear what their saying?"

"Because that's your eyes, not your ears stupid," TK grumbled. Matt felt like telling his brother to be quiet, but somehow got the feeling that that wouldn't help. If this was TK's inner self that he'd known all along, then there was nothing he could do to change it. But damn, TK was being a complete jerk.

The screen flashed and then disappeared. "Your eyes closed," Tai clarified. Matt nodded and got to his feet.

"So, what now brown cow?"

Akemi and Istu leaned over Matt. They were the only two in the hospital room other than Matt's parents, brother, and Tai. The others had to leave, most regretfully. Gendo and Toshiki couldn't come but sent their best wishes. Now the two band members leaned over Matt with the most mournful expressions on their face.

Akemi sighed. "Now who's going to be our lead singer?"

Istu gave him a good whack on the head.

"AKEMI!! What are you doing here?" Matt shouted happily. "Wait, don't answer that. You must be in my mind, too."

"That's because I'm here!" Akemi said just as happily and gave Matt a hug.

Matt cocked his head. "Huh?"

"He's with you right now in real life, so your body somehow makes the connection. Cool huh?" Tai explained.

"Hey Matt, now that you're lost in your own mind… ?" Istu posed. Matt glared at him.

"Forget it. I may not know what's going on, but I still won't sleep with you! Stop asking," Matt complained. Istu laughed and gave him a wink. Matt scanned the room. "Does this mean that TK is no longer by my bedside – or whatever?"

Akemi and Istu shrugged. Tai nodded. Matt looked at Akemi and Istu blankly. "Please don't tell me that you act exactly the same as you normally do!"

"Yep! There's not much about ourselves that we keep from you!" Istu smiled. He added, "Or anybody for that matter!!"

"So how do I get out of my mind?" Matt asked.

"You have to reach the hole in which your mind slipped through or you'll be trapped forever inside this dream world. But things wont be easy. Trying to get back to the real world is very hard to do. You may not be given the time to reach the top either," Akemi said. They all looked at him. "WHAT?!"

Matt laughed. "Nothing. Forget about it."

****************

Okay, not finished yet. I hope you all like the plot.


	2. Accused

He was all by himself now

**************

Matt finds out more things about the friends in his mind, and his real friends find out something that might say that Matt didn't **just** fall into a comma all by himself and that the person who did this to him could be one of them. That's basically the chapter.

I do not own Digimon.

**************

He was all by himself now. It was mind numbing and had pushed him to the point of talking to himself. They were silly conversations. He felt weird talking and replying, but wasn't that what he was doing when he was talking with Tai? Or Akemi? Or Istu? And his brother? They were just him in different forms. Though, it still seemed better talking to a familiar face that his mind had created for him. It was all too weird without those fake little creations.

"So, what do you want to do later?" he asked the nothingness.

"I don't know. Maybe the others will come visit me again," he replied to himself.

He was still in his apartment; still in the same spot he'd been in before. Akemi, Istu, and Tai had left hours before. They just disappeared into thin air. He blinked and they were gone. Pretty soon after that he fell against the wall and had been sitting there ever since. He hadn't gotten hungry yet or hadn't had the need to use the facilities. He just sat there. Bored as hell.

"Maybe we should get up and look around," he suggested.

"Yeah, I suppose. It seems like a better idea than just sitting here doing nothing," he replied.

He pressed against the wall and pushed himself up, sliding up slowly. He looked around lazily when he was completely up. His hair fell into his eyes, but he didn't care and groggily pushed off the wall. He wished his apartment looked like this all the time. It was so clean. So nice. So perfect. Like Tai's apartment. Kari was always cleaning, every time he went over there.

'Tai…'

Tai _loved_ him. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him (he'd come to accept the idea that he was trapped in his own mind and had to fight his way out). Yet, he still got the sense that he **had** known that all along. He **had** grasped the fact and thus chose to ignore it. Like he didn't want to believe that. He could never hold it against Tai though. Tai was his best friend. He couldn't stop being friends with Tai because Tai was…

'I need to think about other things.' Matt thought, frowning. He glanced around to find that his apartment had disappeared. He was now at the school, in the back rooms where he and his band practiced. Puzzled as ever, he wandered around the room. How had his mind triggered this from Tai? Tai was hardly back here.

"Hey Matt. Should we practice?"

Matt spun around and brightened. "Akemi! Toshiki! You're here! You're here!"

The two smiled. Matt ran to them and practically bounced up and down with excitement. He grabbed Toshiki's hands and danced around in circles. Toshiki laughed and let Matt do this. Matt soon let go of him and ran to give Akemi a hug. Akemi dodged him and ran over to Toshiki, laughing.

"I don't do hugs," Akemi joked.

"He does everything else though!" Toshiki snorted. He promptly received a whack on the shoulder.

"I'm so glad you're here! I'm dying of boredom!" Matt bubbled. The two looked at him with odd expressions, making him blush slightly. "Sorry. I'm bored to tears! It's overwhelming! Really!"

"He looks like he's smiling," Akemi said.

"How can you say that? He looks dead…" Toshiki replied softly.

"No, I'm serious. He looks like he's smiling," Akemi persisted.

"I wonder what's going on with him. This is just too weird. I think something has happened." Toshiki shook his head disappointingly.

The two stood in silence. Neither of them had any idea what to say, for once. What if whatever had happened to Matt was serious? Could he possibly die? They didn't realize how long they were standing there in silence until Toshiki felt a hand come down on his shoulder, surprising him. He whirled around and his eyes met up with Tai's, who was supposed to come over an hour after him and Akemi. Toshiki glanced at his watch and cursed softly.

"Akemi, we gotta go. It's late," Toshiki said, dragging Akemi from his shocked trance (Toshiki didn't think he could be thinking, or at least not too deeply). Akemi nodded and headed towards the door. Toshiki started after him, but hesitated. He glanced at Tai. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

Tai jumped. "What?! NO! He's my best friend!"

"Come on Tai. I'm not Akemi. I see the way you look at him in school," Toshiki said. He smiled softly and murmured, "And the way you look at him now."

Tai twitched. He frowned, but ended up muttering, "Please don't tell anybody."

"I wont."

Akemi faded away and Tai emerged from nothing in his place. Matt cocked his head sideways. Why did Akemi leave? They'd been having so much fun playing on the slides. He glimpsed towards Toshiki to make sure that he was still there, but Toshiki was fading too. Matt frowned unhappily and frantically thought of ways to keep Toshiki there. Except it was too late. Toshiki was gone in a few seconds.

Matt sighed. He heard Tai walk up to him; the fall leaves crunching under his feet.

"Why are you sad Matt? Do you not want me around?" Tai asked delicately.

"It's not you, Tai. I just wanted to talk with Toshiki and Akemi more. I was so happy when they got here because I wasn't lonely anymore," Matt explained grimly and plopped down in a swing. He rocked back and forth and sniffled. Tai walked up and grabbed the chains and stopped Matt. He looked down at the blonde affectionately and tried to smile.

"But you're not alone now either. I'm here." Tai's voice was filled with hurt. Matt knew that that was what his mind would think Tai would sound like, but he still felt bad and looked towards Tai with smiling eyes.

"Yes. You're here."

Matt and Tai walked around doing nothing for a long time. To Matt, it felt like he was going uphill the whole time. The park they had been in changed to the digital world and he could see several digimon dashing about. He wanted to see Gabumon, but his friend never came. He sighed inwardly and continued to look about. The digiworld looked different in his mind than it did in real life, but he knew that it was the digiworld.

"What's the matter Matt?" Tai asked, then started giggling. "Matter Matt!"

Matt looked at him and grinned. "You're silly Taichi."

"You're Matt-erific!" Tai laughed.

"You're bizarre!" Matt exclaimed.

"I'm mega whacked! I'm wicked cool! I'm everything that you wish you could be! HA! I'm the one who knows you deeply, yet you have no idea who I am! I'm-"

"Being stupid."

The two boys twisted around in surprise. How long had Sora been standing there?

"Excuse me."

The doctor tapped on the doorframe. Tai and Sora looked up from Matt's bedside.

"Where is Mr. Ishida?" the doctor asked.

"He went to get some coffee," Tai explained. The doctor nodded and left. He soon found Matt's father gulping down cup after cup off black coffee.

"Mr. Ishida? We have your son's blood tests results. I'm afraid they aren't very good."

"Sora!" Matt yelled cheerfully and ran to her. He caught her up in a hug, squeezing her tightly. Sora laughed, but hugged him back. He released her and took her hand, skipping back to Tai and pulling her along with. As soon as her eyes met Tai's, the smile on her face turned into a scowl. Matt looked back and forth between the two, confused. "What's wrong? Are you two mad at each other? I don't understand."

"Don't worry about it Matt. All your lovely blonde hair will fall out," Sora said. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. Tai snorted, and she shot him a disapproving look. "I wish your hair **would** fall out. It's so nasty and repulsive. Do you try to look that bad or is it natural? You're nothing compared to my Matt."

"You're Matt! HA! Since when was he your Matt?!?!" Tai yelled.

"Since you were a pompous idiot!" Sora shot back.

Tai growled. "You'd better back off Sora…"

"Oh yeah?" Sora laughed. "What are you going to do? Have Agumon burn me?"

"I just might," Tai threatened, his voice glazed with iciness.

"I bet!" Sora scoffed. "Face it Tai! You can't have Matt because you're—"

"STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!"

Sora and Tai instantly turned to Matt, who was staring at his feet. He lifted his head, glaring icily at the two. "Stop it right now. I don't understand what this is about, but it's driving me crazy. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not **yours** Sora (Tai smirks). And I'm not yours either Tai! I don't _belong_ to anyone! And right now I'd rather not have to put up with you two fighting."

"Sorry," Tai and Sora mumbled.

Matt sighed. "Let's try to find something to do."

"Quoicleryn Trimethalyn Dioxide? WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?!?!?!?!?!"

"Mr. Ishida, please keep your voice down. It's a chemical element that we found in your son's blood—"

"You've already told me that! Now tell me what it has done to him!"

"Mr. Ishida!" the doctor glanced around at the people who were staring. "It's a medicine used to help treat the mentally insane. But if enough of it gets in the blood, it can kill the inhabitant. Luckily Matt didn't get that much and has only fallen into comma, but we're still not sure he'll live. Now, what we need to know is where your son could have gotten this into his blood stream."

"I don't know!" Mr. Ishida ran his hands nervously through his hair.

"Please try to think."

"Uh… well, I know a couple of his friends work at the asylum," he said.

"What friends might those be?"

"Um… Taichi Yagami and Sora Takenouchi, I think."

"Where are they now?"

"In the room with Matt."

Matt shivered. It was so cold. He was in between Tai and Sora, mostly to keep the two from fighting, and also because of warmth. They seemed unaffected by the chilling cold. Tai smiled at him and they continued to walk through the darkness. Matt didn't like the darkness. It always made him feel sad and afraid. He remembered the darkness from before… from when it tried to take him away…

"I-It's s-so c-cold h-h-here!" Matt chattered.

"I'll warm you up!" Sora offered.

Tai sniffed. "Over my dead body!"

"Stop!"

The three walked in silence some more. Matt shrank against his friends. He felt like he was being watched. They were walking down a long white pathway, but they couldn't see but a few steps ahead of themselves, and the pathway was only so wide. Matt was glad to be in the middle, but was afraid of pushing Tai and Sora off (actually secretly wishing one of them would so they'd stop fighting).

Two red eyes suddenly appeared in front of Matt. He stopped immediately. Sora and Tai looked at him curiously. "What's wrong?" Tai asked.

Matt shivered again. "Don't you see them?" he whispered. Tai shook his head. Another pair of red eyes appeared in front of them. Matt took a couple of steps back. "What do you mean you can't see them?! The eyes! They're staring right at us! At me! Oh Tai! Sora! I'm so afraid! Tell me what they are! Tell me what they are!"

Tai shrugged. "It's your mind. What do **you** think they are?"

"I… I don't know…" Matt replied shakily.

"Think about it Matt," Sora encouraged. "We don't see anything because we're not you."

"They're dogs… Not friendly like Gabumon… I remember being hurt by them as a child…" Matt took several more steps back. "Don't let them get me! Don't let them hurt me Tai!"

Tai began to fade away, like Toshiki and Akemi had done before. And Sora too. Matt frantically reached for them, but withdrew his hands as the red eyes got nearer. Sora was gone now, but Tai was still fading. Matt began to hyperventilate. He wanted to keep Tai from leaving him in his time of need, but he was frozen in place. He was so scared.

"Please don't leave me Tai! Please don't go! I'm so scared! I'm so scared Tai! You can't leave me here! I need you! I need you! Don't leave me all alone! Don't leave me here by myself! No Tai!" Matt screamed. Tears ran down his cheeks as he watched Tai disappear and the dogs move closer. He fell to his knees and whimpered. "Please… don't…"

"Taichi Yagami, Sora Takenouchi, we would like to speak with you."

Tai and Sora looked up at the two police officers standing in the hospital room doorway and then looked at each other. Sora shrugged. "Okay. Speak."

"Not in here, ma'am," one officer said.

Tai glanced at Matt to see that the blonde was trembling. He shook his head at the officers. "I'm not leaving Matt."

The first officer whispered something to the second. He glared sternly at Tai. "We need the both of you to come with us. Now."

"Come on Tai. I'm sure they just need to ask us some stuff," Sora said softly.

Tai shook his head again. "No."

The two officers nodded at each other and both advanced slowly upon Tai. "Sir, please do not make this difficult."

"Why do you need to speak with us anyway? What is this about?" Tai demanded, getting out of his chair and backing towards the window.

As soon as Sora saw the officers advancing towards her and Tai, she'd gotten out of her chair and walked to them. Another officer was waiting outside the room and lead her away to be questioned. Tai still refused to go near the other two. One of them rested his hand on the gun pouch at his waist. Tai eyed this with a sort of fear and backed up until he was against the window. The two officers were really close to him now. Matt stirred in the bed, catching his eye, and the two officers jumped him, turning him around and slamming him against the window to cuff him. Tai didn't like having his hands bound together and struggled as they forced him out of the room.

"No! What's going on! What did I do! I want to stay with Matt!" Tai protested.

"Tai…"

Everyone in the room froze. They all turned around and looked at Matt. He stirred again and he had the most horrified expression on his face.

"No Tai! Please… don't…"

Tai had left him. Tai had left him to his worst nightmare. Tai had faded and left him. He was crying harder now and had his head tucked into his knees so he didn't have to see those red eyes… burning into him… into his soul… causing instant fear to take over his entire body. He was so afraid. He needed someone to be there for him.

"Why? Why! Why! Why did you leave me all alone! Sora! Tai! Akemi! Istu! Toshiki! TK! Why do all of you keep leaving when I need you the most? Why?" Matt wailed.

"You seriously whine too much."

'TK…' Matt's head snapped up. The white walkway and red-eyed dogs had disappeared, too. An empty mall was stretched out before him (Mimi's worst nightmare) and standing in the middle of it was TK. His brother was frowning contemptuously down upon him. Matt got to his feet and wiped away his tears, a slight flush creeping on his cheeks.

"I guess I do," Matt laughed. "I was just so afraid. I'm so alone…"

"Matt, as much as it aggravate me to hear you whine – you have no idea how much it annoys me – I want you to know that I do look up to you. I don't hate you. I just get agitated sometimes," TK said softly. Matt thought he saw a flick of emotion, but the TK went back to blank.

"I know TK. You're my brother. A cold and mean one, but still mine. I do appreciate you telling me that I whine because now I know what to fix so that I wont bother you. Why didn't you ever tell me that I bothered you with all my whining?" Matt asked. TK shrugged. Matt sighed. "Oh yeah. I forgot, if I don't know, then you don't know. This is getting rather troublesome."

"Then that's a good reason for you to get back to reality: you can talk to the real me and clear things up," TK said.

Matt smiled. "Yeah, it is. What do you say we start trying to get out of here?"

TK couldn't believe it. Why in Frith-rah would Tai want to hurt Matt? That wasn't in good logic. Tai was Matt's best friend. 'But TK, you **are** rushing things. Just because Tai works at the place that contains that stuff in Matt's blood and Matt had been scared to death of Tai in his sleep doesn't mean that Tai did anything…'

TK sighed. He couldn't convince himself. He'd always looked up to Tai, but now there was so much against the brunette. Tai had disappeared for about three hours the night Matt got sick, and refused to tell anyone where he was. And also the thing about him working at the asylum and Matt being petrified of him. Kari hated to admit it, but she had noticed that Tai had been snapping at Matt an awful **lot** lately, only saying he had stuff on his mind. Tai and Matt had always fought so much…

*************

Okay… so yeah. Tai is being accused of harming Matt! Oh no! Haha… I'm so evil. Anyway, the next chapter is going to include: Mimi, Gendo, Joe, and Izzy (plus the ones from this chapter, too). Thanks to the Empress for allowing me to use the band members. *squeals!!* I shall now worship the ground she walks upon… or at least the ground the **band** walks upon, heh heh. Tell me what you think!

*************


	3. Together Again

************

************

Not very many people have reviewed this fic… hmm… I think I might give it up to work on others after I finish this chapter if hardly anyone reviews because I'm going to need a vote on this chapter.

Anywho, I don't own Digimon

************

Matt didn't like being alone. It was getting old. Hours would go by and he'd be alone, then someone would show up and make it better. Tai hadn't come to visit him ever since he left Matt standing alone on the white walkway. TK came a lot. He helped Matt reach whatever destination he was headed for. Akemi said something about getting to the top, so that was what Matt aimed for. Every now and then he'd come to a door, go out it, and find himself back on the spiral. Then he'd walk up the spiral a little ways a find another door to enter. It gave him the feeling he was going up, and had to go through these phases of mind to get back to where he'd started. This went on for days. Or what Matt guessed was days. It seemed so long between each visit of his friends or family. His dad had come once. And his mom. But mostly it was Akemi, Istu, Toshiki, TK, and Sora.

The truth was, Matt had been in his comma for over a two month but it only seemed a week to him. His mind was constantly going and he never seemed to get tired or hungry. He wanted to speak to Tai again, and find out why Tai left so abruptly and hadn't come back in forever, not that Tai would know because Matt didn't know and his imaginary friends could only tell him what he already knew. Though, it would have made Matt feel better.

Today Gendo and Mimi were with him. Mimi loved the pink things that were everywhere and skipped in front of Matt and Gendo happily. She hadn't a care in the world, or at least not in Matt's mind. He liked to talk to her. She was so kind and considerate about everything that was going on. Matt knew that that would be how she would act in real life. Mimi was always so innocent.

Gendo, on the other hand, was acting a bit like Akemi. It was quite strange to Matt and he wasn't sure whether his mind was just used to having Akemi around (this being the first time Gendo had visited him) or whether that's how he thought Gendo was deep down inside. It was too weird.

Matt was actually beginning to enjoy having Istu and Akemi around more than anyone else. Sure Sora, TK, and Toshiki were fun, but there were specific things about the three of them that puzzled Matt and made him a bit on the edge when he was with them. With Istu, it was just constant harmless flirting (which made Matt think about how he was flirting with himself…) and with Akemi it was just a bunch of sexual jokes. They seemed to relax Matt more. Maybe because TK was just so different than the TK Matt had grown up knowing (he was really getting a lot nicer because Matt stopped whining so much), and Toshiki was hardly ever there so Matt began to forget what he acted like, and Sora…

Sora.

Yes. There was definitely something different about Sora. Tai had told him right off that Matt was seeing the sides of his friends and family that he'd always known were there, but had chosen to ignore. When Sora first came, Matt found out that she didn't like Tai very much, nor did Tai like her, but now that Tai was gone, Sora acted like Sora. Yet, Akemi acted like Akemi and Istu acted like Istu… But with Sora it was different somehow. Matt got the feeling he knew nothing about her and wondered what deep dark secrets she held within.

As he thought about it more, Matt began to realize that Mimi was the same way. Sure she was Mimi, but she was different. She acted the same but there was something mysterious about her. She and Sora had secrets that Matt obviously had never had a clue about. It confused him greatly.

Gendo left, making Matt feel quite sad. This was Gendo's first time to visit him and he didn't even stay long. It was the same with Toshiki. He come for a few minutes then leave and the visits were far apart. Matt wondered what was keeping the two from him. They were supposed to be his friends, right?

And so was Tai. He'd left Matt when Matt needed him the most and hadn't come back since. So how was Matt supposed to take this? He tried to forget about Tai, but the brunette was constantly on his mind. He wanted to know where Tai was and what was keeping him. If Tai meant what he said to Matt that first day, then where the hell was he? Not that Matt was like that or anything, but he still wanted to talk to Tai.

Davis was here now. And Ken. They had both been visiting a lot and often came together. Matt and Mimi were happy to see them and the four quickly found something to do.

"Okay," Mimi was saying, "I know you can be overwhelmed, and under whelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?"

"I suppose," Matt responded, shrugging. He grinned at Mimi, making her blush.

"You know I always thought you were cute, don't you?" Mimi giggled.

"I guess, since we are in my mind." Matt shrugged again. He scooped her up and twirled her around in the air. "And since this wont hurt because it's not really you…"

Matt brought her close and gave her a swift kiss. Mimi giggled again and blushed harder. Matt laughed and let go of her, turning to Davis and Ken who were walking farther behind them whispering to each other.

"What are you two talking about?" Matt asked.

Mimi liked it when Matt smiled in his sleep. He looked so innocent and free of the world. The doctors said that Matt's mind was going a mile a minute with several different things at once. That was good. Luckily the Quoicleryn Trimethaly-crap hadn't hurt him too much. The doctors said that Matt would wake up any time now. But then, they said that over a month ago. It made Mimi wonder if what was wrong with Matt was deeper than chemical poisoning.

Gendo had been sitting with her for a little while, and now Davis and Ken were in the room, but they said they couldn't stay long. Neither could Mimi. She was going to visit another one of her friends who was at the police station's small jail. Tai. Poor, poor Tai. Mimi didn't think Tai would ever hurt Matt; she knew the truth about how Tai felt for Matt. But obviously the police did, and Matt's parents were beginning to think Tai might have played a part in Matt's sickness. Mimi couldn't, and wouldn't, believe such a thing. Yet, she couldn't leave until Sora got there. She liked to have someone with Matt as much as possible.

Sora showed up a little later, and Mimi, Davis, and Ken all left. Mimi hopped in her car and headed for the station. She'd become a regular visitor to Tai and Matt. The people who worked at the hospital and the station knew her well. Mimi was glad her parents were allowing her to miss so much school to come back to Japan to see her friends. They let her transfer to home school and she took classes over the Internet during the day. The Yagamis were letting her stay at their house since they… well… had an extra bed because Tai wasn't there.

"Hello Mrs. Tachikawa. Right on time, as ever. The usual?" the officer at the front desk asked, though he knew the answer.

"Of course," Mimi replied smiling. He smiled back and opened the door leading to the back where the makeshift cells, that were most of the time only used for a few days, were. They couldn't put Tai in a prison because they hadn't convicted him of anything yet, and were just holding him, and had been for the past month and half.

The officers in the back already had everything set up for her and went to get Tai. Mimi frowned as Tai approached. He looked awful. He was incredibly pale and thin. Dark rings were under his eyes and he had such a blank look that it chilled Mimi. Tai looked up at her and sighed, trying to fake a smile.

"How's Matt?" Tai asked.

"He's still in his comma," Mimi said softly. "How are you holding up Tai?"

"Awful, to be frank. I want to see Matt." Tai's voice cracked. He wanted to break down in tears, but was too worn to do that.

"I know, but you can't. Tai, you have to tell them where you were that night! Where exactly did you go? You haven't even told me and I'm your friend!" Mimi said.

"I know! I know! But I don't want to get in trouble!" Tai groaned.

"You already ARE in trouble! How worse do you want this to get?" Mimi sighed. "Please Tai. You have to tell."

Tai hesitated. "But you don't understand. I…"

"Tai. Tell me."

"Oh all right! I was with some of my friends! We got drunk! I didn't want to get caught for drinking underage!" Tai wailed. He slammed his head down on the desk and sniffled.

"You have to tell the police that…" Mimi murmured.

Tai lifted his head to look at her. "Do you think they'd believe me? No. They'll think I just made it up to get out of here! And if they did believe me, I'd still have to go to prison for underage drinking!"

"Not necessarily…" Mimi started.

"Tai! Tai! You're here! You came back!!!"

Matt bounced up and down when Mimi and Tai appeared beside him and Sora. Sora gave Tai a dirty look, but kept her mouth shut. After hugging, and hugging, and hugging, and hugging some more… and a little more hugging, Matt drew away from Tai with the most confused look on his face.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

Tai shrugged, causing Matt to sigh. He wanted to talk to his REAL friends. He wanted to be able to see things that weren't always pink, blue, or mega whacked. He wanted to practice with his band; wanted to joke around about the latest issue. But he couldn't do those things trapped in his mind.

"Listen Matt," Tai said slowly. "I have something serious to tell you. We are not who we think we are. We are NOT who we think we are! One of us is bad Matt. One of us – your friends - has tried to harm you before and will do it again. Think about it Matt."

Then Tai, Mimi, and Sora were gone. Matt was confused. What did Tai mean by that? Was he saying that someone was trying to hurt Matt? What was going on!

***********

Short chapter!! But no one really wants me to finish this fic so… Anyway, for those few of you who actually care, vote on (A) who you want the poisoner/bad person to be, (B) who you want the lover to be, and (C) how do you think this should end [as in with a death, happy ending like the fairy tales, or whatever]. Okay? I wont finish this fic until I get some dang reviews, got it?!?!?!?!


	4. Almost Out

*************

*************

Ah, yes, here I am, writing this fic because people asked me to. Well, not really people, but more actually one person. But who cares? I kind of want to finish this just to get it off my mind. The thing that is bothering me most, though, is that no one will read my fic "Interior of a Mind" (which is kind of weird b/c that should be the name of this fic, but I had already posted it and couldn't use the same title). It's not fair! I want reviews on that one dang it!

Anyway, I don't own Digimon. And the beginning of the story is just them talking and you don't really know who's who, okay? And this chapter (don't know if its going to be the last or what) has a TON of dialog!!!

*************

"Aw Matt! You know you love me!"

"Go away Istu."

"Have you ever wondered what snow looks like before it comes down?"

"Davis, are you thinking? You know that's bad for you."

"Shut it Miyako."

"I can already see the smoke coming out of his ears…"

"SHUT UP MIYAKO!"

"Stop the lovers quarrel you two."

"WHAT?!!"

"Do you lot ever quit fighting?"

"He started it!"

"Hey, hands off."

"Akemi made me do it!"

"Almighty Frith, Istu! I don't care who made you do it!"

"My hair is getting all limp!"

"Mine doesn't look limp does it?"

"I love you're hair, Davis. It always looks perfect."

"Thanks Ken."

"HEY! STOP THAT!"

"Akemi made me do it! Akemi made me do it!"

"I did not!"

"You did the first time!"

"But not this time!"

"STOP IT ISTU!"

"My hair is going to fall out from all this cold."

"Snow is pretty."

"Just like me."

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Look at this!"

"Gladly."

"That's not what I meant Akemi."

"ISTU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Watch out Istu. Matt is getting feisty…"

Matt shoved Istu away from him with a glare. "Stop it, now."

Istu smiled and snuggled right back up to him. Rolling his eyes, Matt began to mess with Akemi's hair. Akemi swatted his hands away and shot him a look. Matt smiled innocently. "That's what you get for using me as a pillow."

"I don't care if you play with my hair!" Istu said. Matt pushed him away again.

"It's cold in here," Matt chattered, then instantly turned to Istu. He narrowed his eyes icily. "Make a comment. I dare you."

"Why I'd never!" Istu laughed. "But you know Matt, I could warm you up…"

"ISTU! I'm going to kill you!"

Mimi jerked Matt back onto the ski lift seat before he could get up and chase Istu. "No! You are not going to ruin my nice little cocoon."

"And you're my pillow!" Akemi added.

Matt mumbled something but stayed where he was, eyeing Istu who was grinning at him from the other side of the ski lift. Istu blew him a kiss and he looked out the window in disgust. He suddenly understood why Mimi didn't want him to leave because there was a draft of cold air where Istu had left.He shivered and scooted closer to Mimi.

"Matt! Stop moving so much!" Akemi griped.

"I can't help it! I'm cold!" Matt protested.

"Well I'm tired of standing," Miyako muttered and sat down beside Matt.

"Hey! You took my spot!!" Istu complained. Matt smiled and leaned on Miyako, nuzzling up closer to her. Istu glared at him. "That's not funny."

"Mmm, Matt…" Miyako teased, playing along.

"Hey!!" Istu whined. "Matt! That's not fair!"

"And why not?" Matt asked.

Akemi elbowed Matt. "Stop moving damn it!"

"Did anyone see where Ken and Davis went to?" Mimi asked.

"I bet they're-"

"Save us the details Akemi."

Their conversation varied from different topics until the ski lift stopped at the top of the hill. None of them wanted to get up and walk into the cold, but eventually they all stood up (except for Istu who was already standing) and opened the little door on the side of the lift. Cold air swirled inside, making them all shiver.

"You know Matt, if you're still cold…" Istu started. Matt pushed him away. "One of these days Matt…"

"Keep dreaming."

Matt spotted what he wanted. A black door. He happily ran over to it and opened, instantly seeing the spirals and blackness outside. All his friends stayed behind him and watched. He smiled and stepped outside onto the spiral. The door closed behind him and disappeared. It felt good to be in the warmth of his inner mind again.

For the first time since he'd fallen, Matt could see the black hole above him. It was so close now. Only a few more weird dreams and he'd be able to get out of the place that was starting to scare him more than anything. Who'd thought a mind could be so dangerous? Actually Matt was glad his was in his mind and not some one else's, such as Akemi's or Mimi's. Their dreams would be nothing but sex and malls.

He walked up the pink spiral, searching for the next door. Usually they were really close together, but he couldn't find the door anywhere. Getting slightly frenetic he started to jog. A black object caught his eye and he sighed with relief.

He opened the door and stepped inside…

"Bye Davis. Bye Ken." Mimi waved goodbye to them from Matt's bedside. Miyako was still in the hospital room, but she was getting ready to leave too. Mimi was glad Akemi and Istu weren't leaving yet since they still had a long time before rehearsal (which Mimi thought was incredibly stupid to have since they didn't have their guitar player and lead singer). Mimi smiled as Matt's eyes opened a little. She almost felt like he could see her.

"Don't you just love his hair?"

Tai was standing in the doorway with TK. They'd become regular visitors like Mimi. Tai sat down in a seat beside Istu and TK sat near the window. He didn't like it when other people were in the room with Matt when he was not there. It made him uncomfortable to know that one of them might have been the one who poisoned his brother. He couldn't trust any of them.

Mimi stared at Matt on the cliff's edge. "I think you're crazy."

"I already knew he was crazy," Tai laughed.

"I think he's hot." Istu winked at Matt.

"Yeah, I already knew that too!" Tai walked up to Matt's side. "So, do you think you'll fall up or down?"

"I hope he doesn't fall and hurt himself," TK muttered.

"Ohhh! Mr. I-can't-stand-my-brother is showing some feelings!" Akemi kidded. TK glared at him and turned away from the group.

"You lot are a bunch of retards."

"Whatever. Should I jump or not?" Matt stared at the water below him and the blue sky above. He cautiously turned to Mimi. "What do you think?"

"I already told you what I think. You're crazy," Mimi retorted. She smiled anyway. "But if you want to commit suicide, then by all means, go ahead."

"Alright then!"

Matt leaped off the edge of the cliff, closing his eyes. He didn't feel like he was falling up or down. He slowly opened one eye, then both. He was floating and the others were staring at him in disbelief.

"I told you it wouldn't hurt," Tai said victoriously.

"Why am I not falling?" Matt asked.

"Maybe the pull is so strong from both directions that it's holding you in one place," Mimi suggested.

"I suppose."

Matt walked back to the cliff's edge. That had been boring. He started to head back down the cliff. So far, he'd been searching this new dream and hadn't found a single black door. In his other dreams he'd found them effortlessly. This dream was a lot bigger and the scenery changed more, too. Maybe his mind was broader when it got closer to his conscious state.

"Hey Matt," Akemi called from the back of the group. "Would you rather have sex with Joe or Istu?"

"Joe."

"Tai or Istu?"

"Tai."

"Mimi or Istu?"

"Mimi."

"Me or Istu?"

"You."

"Izzy or Istu?"

"Izzy."

"Kari or Istu?"

"Kari."

"TK or Istu?"

"You're sick."

"I know. Sora or Istu?"

"Sora."

"The world's most annoying girl or Istu?"

"You mean Jun?" Matt paused. "That one is hard."

"You're cruel and evil Matt!" Istu shouted at him. "I understand being mean, but saying that it's hard to pick on that one! Come on!!"

Matt sighed. "Oh all right. Jun."

"I hate you," Istu grumbled.

"No you don't," Tai laughed. He ran forward and grabbed Matt around the waist and flipped the blonde into his arms. "We all love Matt!"

"Ah! Tai! Put me down!" Matt whined.

"But I'm your knight in shining armor!" Tai spun around in circles, making Matt dizzy.

"Stop flirting. You're making me sick!" Istu declared. Tai paused in his spinning to stick his tongue out at him.

"Hey! You're disappearing Istu!" Matt said flippantly. "And you too Akemi! I guess you are leaving."

"Bye Istu! Bye Akemi!" Mimi said. Then she looked at herself to see that she was disappearing too. "Oh dear. I suppose I'm going also. Bye Matt! Tai! TK!"

"Tai, please tell me if you know anything. Please."

Tai stared up at Mr. Ishida. "I'm sorry. I don't know a thing. If I did, I would have said it already. Matt is my best friend, you know."

"I know. But it's been five months and there's no leads!" Mr. Ishida ran his hands nervously through his hair and sat down in the seat that Akemi had been sitting in. "I don't understand it. We searched Matt's room and there's no sign of a needle. The doctors say that it could have been passed into him by way of drink and that Matt might have done this to himself, but I don't see Matt doing something like that."

"No. Matt would never do anything in that way," TK said softly.

"I'll see you guys later!"

Matt dashed out the black door, having finally found it. He had made good progress today. Already through two black doors in only a little time! How lucky! He looked up at the black hole. It was so close now he could almost touch it. There wasn't hardly any of the spiral left. He ran up it and groaned when he saw another black door. Why did everything have to be difficult!?

Something Matt had learned during all this was that he couldn't run past a black door. There was like a wall of glass that he couldn't see and would smack into if he tried to pass. It was annoying. He'd probably already have made it to the top and be awake if he could just run the spiral.

But oh well. One more dream and he'd be free. Well, sort of anyway. He wouldn't be free from himself, but at least he'd be free from his mind. Matt opened the door and walked inside. Lights flashed on around him and he could see an ice skating rink stretched out before him. Tai was skating back and forth with TK and his dad. They smiled at him and skated closer.

"Hey Matt. See the birds?" Tai asked. He pointed up at the sky above them to where some penguins were flying. Matt laughed. Tai grinned and started to skate away.

"Wait Tai. Where are you going?" Matt said, running to catch up with him, but the ice was slippery which made it hard. Tai circled around him and picked him up in his arms again.

"I haven't figured that one out yet. I thought I'd just skate until I found something to do," Tai said and carried Matt to one side of the rink. "You shouldn't be on the ice without skates, ya know. You could hurt yourself."

"Thanks for the advice," Matt joked. Tai set him down on the little hillside and started to skate away again. "Tai! Come back!"

Tai turned around and started skating backwards. "Why?"

"Because I want to… talk to you?" Matt said, not quite sure why he didn't want Tai to leave.

Tai vanished from in front of him and reappeared behind him. He snatched Matt up in his arms and whispered, "You're falling for me."

Matt fidgeted as soon as he felt Tai's breath on his neck. "That's not it. I don't want to be alone. Besides, you're just what I think you are. I can't fall for myself."

"Of course you can!" Tai laughed. He let go of Matt and was in front of the blonde within a few seconds. "Lots of people do. You know, you see them staring at themselves ALL THE TIME, and they're always talking about themselves ALL THE TIME."

Matt grinned at Tai's joke. "Yeah, but that's different."

Tai shrugged. "I suppose." Then he cocked his head to one side and murmured, "What if you fell for the real Tai?"

"I… I don't think I… will…" Matt answered, frowning a bit. "I don't think Tai really likes me like that in reality."

"Then maybe I'm what YOU wanted. If I'm not what the real Tai is, then why has your mind created me? Hm? Ever thought about that?" Tai asked. He grinned and skipped off, leaving Matt alone to think. Matt understood what Tai had said, so maybe he DID have feelings for Tai that way…

Tai was sitting on Matt's bedside. He was running his hands through the blonde hair and brushing it out of Matt's face, making everything look perfect. Tai didn't look at TK because he knew that the boy's eyes would be shooting into him like arrows, accusing him for Matt's harm. TK didn't mean to look at Tai like that, but it was hard not to and he looked at all his friends with a glare. Tai understood. TK couldn't trust them. Tai had become a bit suspicious himself.

Matt stirred and rolled over so that his back was to Tai. The doctors said that Matt was getting more restless and coming close to waking up. They said that if he wasn't awake within the next two months, then he'd probably never wake up. But there was a slim chance of that because Matt was turning out to be more and more conscious with each day.

Again Matt stirred and rolled over. He whispered some things and Tai leaned over in hope that he could hear and make out what his friend was saying.

"You're crazy… Stop… TK… Tai is silly… TK come back… TK… I'm sorry… Tai stop him…"

"His dreams are weird."

Tai looked up at TK. He hadn't realized that the younger boy had gotten up to hear Matt also. Tai smiled. "He's sorry. Don't leave."

TK couldn't help but smile back. Tai did have a way of making painful things funny. "Who do you figure he thinks is crazy? Me or you?"

"TK! I was only kidding!" Matt yelled. "I wasn't really going to through the books at Kari! Look at Tai! He's not mad and it's his little sister!"

"Well he should be mad!" TK yelled from atop the house. Matt could tell that he was teasing now. TK chuckled and slid off the house. "You're fanatical Matt."

"ME? I wasn't the one who was about to try and leap across the lily pads…" Matt snorted.

"Hey! I just wanted to see if they'd hold my weight!" Tai objected.

TK snickered. "Yes, Tai's definitely the wildest!"

"Shut up- Oh hey Matt! Look! One of those doors you keep going out of!" Tai exclaimed. Matt and TK spun around to see the black door. Matt leaped in the air with joy. This was finally it! He'd finally get to go home! All he had to do now was get through that black hole again!


	5. New Accuasations

I don't own Digimon. Thought I'd say that first. I decided to finish this anyway even though it is not on my high priority list, though my sister threatens to stand over me and force me to write it when she gets home from college. The only reason why I'm writing on is because (1) I asked to use the **Empress of the Eclipse**'s band and it would be pointless to go through the trouble of asking her and then not finish the fic. (2) I'm afraid my sister will do something just to get back at me. And she would. So for anyone who might actually care, be sure to thank her for scaring me into finishing. And don't forget to REVIEW!

************

Matt ran his fingers through the short blades of grass. He sighed and looked around the open field. There wasn't much there, but it was so peaceful. People had always described the ocean to him. They described the vastness of it, and the way it seemed to stretch forever in every direction. That was what the field looked like: beautiful green in every direction. The blades of grass leaned in the wind and appeared to roll over the hills.

Something interrupted the scene though. The black hole in the middle of the sky.  Matt stared at it and frowned. That was how he was supposed to get home. He'd fought forever to come this far. Yet now there was a new task at hand. Did he want to go home or not? Did he actually want to wake up and leave this dream world forever? It meant he'd have to face life again. It meant he'd have to deal with problems again. It also meant he could see his real friends again…

Frustrated, the blonde ripped blades of grass from the ground. One part of him was screaming, "GO BACK YOU BAKA! So what if you don't get everything you ever wanted! Life isn't easy!" but the other half was countering with, "Think of it: freedom forever. No school. No bossy parents. No growing up. You can sleep forever and never be disturbed…"

Normally we would think this would be an easy decision, but being in a comma for months on end ruins your ability to think straight. Matt had long lost that knack and his mind was tired, almost like it would be if he had had a lot to drink. He was more like a puppet now to his own deepness than the puppeteer. He couldn't control what was going on inside him.

Tai walked up and sat beside him. They both stared at the hole for a little while before TK walked up too. Matt enjoyed being in his brother and friend's presence. They always made him feel warm. They were the only two that he actually felt sane near, mainly because in his mind they were insane.

Matt had the chance for a month in the real world's time to leave the dream world. It had only been a few days in the dream world. The black hole had been there, waiting for him. In spite of that, the decision was hard to make. Every time he came near to finally deciding what to do, something else would happen and distract him.

"Matt, you know you must go," Tai said at last.

"Why though? Is that what I really want?" Matt replied.

"You already know the answer to that, Matt. We are you. Whatever your mind commands, we do," TK responded. He turned his now chocolate eyes to Matt. "Are we even the same anymore? Or what you have commanded?"

"We are slipping from your mind. You don't even remember us correctly…" Tai whispered. Matt glanced at him to see that his hair was no longer the color it had been, but now a reddish color. The more Matt thought about it, the more he couldn't seem to remember what color Tai's hair had been. It was fading from his mind so quickly.

"How long has it been since I got here?" Matt wondered aloud. He groaned and fell back into the grass. "What should I do Tai?"

"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer, but wish we didn't," Tai answered.

Matt blinked at the response and sighed again. He knew that the person whom he was calling Tai was right. The person that was himself, too. He was right if Tai was right since Tai was him. Things like this confused him so and he often wondered how his mind could make up so many characters and yet still be itself. Though, was he still himself? How could he tell if he hadn't changed?

Sitting up, Matt gazed at the black hole once more. 'I have to get out of here, before I go crazy. What's to say that I haven't already? And how will I know when I'm really out of this world and in the real one?' he thought and got to his feet. Now all he had to do was get to the black hole that was so high in the sky. Stepping forward, Matt reached towards the hole in the sky and breathed in deeply. He closed his eyes as he felt his body turn into air…

Tai, TK, and the band were in Matt's hospital room. Istu and Gendo were speaking quietly speaking in the corner, Toshiki was sitting in a chair with his clasped together in front of him and obviously in deep concentration, Akemi was flirting with the nurses as they passed the room, TK was sitting in another chair reading a book, and Tai was by Matt's bedside, staring at the blonde intently.

The doctors had told them that Matt had been mumbling and stirring in his comma quite often that week. They said it was almost like he was having a bad dream. Thinking about they're words, Tai took Matt's pale hand in his own and rubbed the back of it gently with his thumb.

"Don't worry. I'm here for you and I will always be," Tai whispered. He glanced up to see Toshiki looking in his way, but the guitar player only turned his head to the side and continued to think. Tai gazed back at Matt and with his other hand he began to smooth the locks of faded gold. "I will never leave you, Matt."

The blonde breathed a soft note and murmured, "I know Tai…"

"Matt?" Tai said loudly, getting everyone's attention. "Matt? Can you hear me? Matt?"

By the third 'Matt' everyone was beside his bed. Even Akemi, who almost had a dark haired nurse wrapped around his finger and was convincing her to meet him after she got off her shift.

"The sex I give up for Matt," he muttered and pushed Gendo out of his way to see if anything was actually happened.

"What happened?" Istu asked.

"He responded to something I said," Tai said. He gasped softly as he felt Matt squeeze his hand. Blue eyes slowly opened and closed, trying to adjust to the bright light. Matt reached up with his pale hand to shield his eyes and let the blurry objects around him slowly come into place.

"Ohhhh…"

"Matt! You're awake!" Istu cried happily. He grabbed the blonde and pulled him into a tight hug. "You're finally awake!!"

As soon as Matt's eyes adjusted he felt something grab him. He cried out as the thing squeezed him and attempted to push it away. He saw then that it was another person and that there were several other people and they were all staring at him ecstatically. They were all reaching for him, trying to hug him. The weird part about it, however, was that Matt didn't know any of them.

"Who are you? Get away from me!" he screamed and shoved them all away. Their thrilled faces all immediately went to fear. Matt felt his heart beat get faster at being surrounded by strange people. Then another thing struck him and he started to get even more frantic.

He didn't know who he was.

"He is suffering from mild amnesia…"

"MILD AMNESIA? He can't even remember his own name! How is that mild?" Mr. Ishida screeched at the doctor. A nurse behind the counter looked up in shock and a police officer by the door shifted warningly. The young, new doctor stuttered and fixed his glasses, obviously not used to having to put up with such harshness.

"I-It's called m-mild amnesia because h-he can remember s-simple t-things like m-math but h-he c-can't remember any previous m-memories or anything about h-himself," the doctor tried to explain.

"So he has what? Selective amnesia? Frith! Is that possible?" Mr. Ishida groaned and rubbed his temples in attempt to soften his growing headache. The doctor gulped and stood where he was in fear that if he moved the larger, angry man would beat him senseless. Mr. Ishida glared at the doctor. "What can be done to help him?"

The doctor relaxed a little at the softened tone. "Well…"

Matt stared at the two people outside of his room. He couldn't hear what they were saying but got the feeling it was about him. He felt so confused. People had been filing in and out of his room all afternoon, trying to hug him, and it had driven him crazy at first, although, after a while of this he got used to it. It was embarrassing because he didn't know their names, but eventually they started coming in with nametags, which helped him out greatly. They talked to him and brought of things from his 'past' in an effort to get him to remember not only them, but himself also.

He heard the doorknob clink as it turned and sighed. It wasn't that he didn't want to remember, but he was so tired and worn out. Couldn't they give him a few days to rest? It was mind numbing, really.

Three people walked into Matt's room quietly. He recognized the three from earlier that morning. He was quite happy he could remember back that far. 'Tai, Gendo, and Istu.' He thought, reading their nametags. The three smiled at him and he faked a smile back. Istu and Gendo stepped up to the bedside, but Tai lingered behind them, eyeing the blonde. Matt felt a stir of feelings mix inside of him under the brunette's stare.

"So Matt, my dear gorgeous one, how are you and your wonderful self feeling?" Istu asked.

Matt looked at him uneasily. "Excuse me?"

"Istu stop messing with his feeble mind!" Gendo said. He turned back to Matt and smiled. "Remember anything?"

"No," Matt said warily. He lay back onto his bed and tried to relax. It was already hard enough to stay awake and now he got the weird feeling that if he fell asleep the other three in the room might do something mischievous. He glanced back at Tai, who shifted awkwardly and instantly directed his attention away from Matt. Yawning, Matt closed his eyes. "I'm really tired."

Istu snorted. "How can you be tired? You just slept for seven months! Do you have any idea how much school you've missed?"

"Technically when you are in a comma you aren't really sleeping, but fighting for your life," Tai said softly. Matt glanced at him again and raised an eyebrow as Tai once more looked elsewhere in the room nervously.

"Uh, yeah. I'm just glad you're awake!" Istu grinned playfully. "Now we can have-"

Gendo promptly stomped on his foot to shut him up. He gave Istu another warning look before going back to the puzzled blonde once more. "Ignore him. If you're tired we can leave."

"That would be nice," Matt blurted without thinking and quickly blushed afterwards. He saw Tai grin with amusement out of the corner of his eye. "I didn't mean it like that. I just… I'm still getting used to… all this."

"We'll leave then," Tai said. He motioned for Gendo and Istu to follow him and the three left. Istu looked quite upset at leaving so soon but Gendo grabbed him and dragged him out of the room.

For some reason, once they were gone, Matt had this unbearable feeling of loneliness sweep over him. But it quickly dissolved into sleep and he faded from reality.

He scooped the leaves in his hand and sighed. The fall was always a pretty season. The trees always looked so beautiful. The person in front of him thought so, too, because they were standing on the hill pointing at the big orange-leafed tree. Matt smiled and continued to through handfuls of yellow leaves in the air. The person said something to him, but he didn't hear them through his happy state. After a while, he got up and walked to where the person was standing. On their shirt he noticed a nametag.

"Tai," he read aloud.

The person nodded and then disappeared with the rest of the dream.

"Matt, are you ready for the tests?"

"No."

Matt stared at the nurse with a frown. He really didn't want to have to take these tests. Yes he needed to remember more things about himself. Yes he was drifting back and forth between dream world and reality a lot. Yes to even the fact that he might have something wrong with him. But he really, extremely, tremendously, enormously did not want to take these blasted tests.

"Dear, we can find out what is wrong with you and make you feel better," the nurse said politely.

"I know," Matt muttered with a sigh. He added under his breath where the nurse couldn't hear, "Excuse me for not wanting to be poked with needles and scanned with lasers."

The nurse was already leaving to get him a wheelchair (which he didn't understand the point of since he felt he could walk just fine) when some people came into the room. He recognized them from previous visits: the one who claimed to be his father, Tai, Sora, and TK. He liked TK. For a little brother, he seemed more of a best friend. Tai was pretty cool, too. Sora was cute, but she was very serious about everything. Though, she had a right to be since Matt just woke up from a seven-month comma.

"Hey Matt, how ya feeling?" Mr. Ishida said and patted his son on the back.

"Fine," Matt muttered. He stared at Mr. Ishida with pleading eyes. "Do I really have to take these tests? I don't want to…"

"It's good for you. We don't want you falling into another comma," Sora said quickly. "No hush up and be good. I don't want to hear about you giving the doctors a problem, all right?"

"Frith Sora, you're not his mother," Tai chuckled, getting a humorous snort from TK behind him and a glare from Sora.

She rolled her eyes and smiled at Matt. "I just came by for a quick visit to tell you good luck! I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Bye," Matt replied. He watched Sora go, frowning a bit. His father had started to say something to him, but he wasn't paying attention and interrupted. "Am I dating her or something? She's always so… I don't know, but I think it would be good if I knew we were together."

Tai and TK looked at each other before cracking up laughter. Through his giggles, TK managed to say, "You and Sora? No, no, no, no, no, no!"

"Okay?" Matt looked at the two worriedly. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

Mr. Ishida tried to conceal his smile and gave TK and Tai cautionary glares. "You two stop that."

Before anything else could be said the nurse walked backed into the room pushing a wheel chair. Matt groaned and flopped down in his bed, pulling the blankets over his eyes. The nurse pushed the wheelchair beside his bed and ripped the blankets off of him. "Now, now. That is no way to behave."

"Fine," he muttered in reply and slid off the bed. It was the first time he noticed that there wasn't a back to his outfit and it was a bit drafty. He blushed and pulled the back of his outfit together to conceal himself.

"You shouldn't hide such a cute tushie!" the nurse giggled and pinched his butt.

Matt yelped in surprise and leapt away. "Hey!"

TK and Tai exploded into laughter again. They each clung to the other to keep from falling to the ground in hysteria. Mr. Ishida began to chuckle, making it sound as if he was clearing his throat when Matt shot him a dirty look, and then hit Tai and TK, sending them an amused glare.

"Come now! Sit down!" the nurse bubbled happily. She shoved Matt down into the wheel chair. "These tests wont take but a short while."

Matt sighed and slumped in the chair. "I can't wait."

"And now we're home. The bathroom is on the left and your room is on the right."

Matt shot his dad an annoyed glare. "I know that."

"Just making sure. They said your memory wasn't back a full 100% yet," Mr. Ishida replied. He couldn't help feeling protective over his son and trying to make sure everything was going all right.  The more he strived to win his son's affection, the farther they drifted apart. And the whole comma/loss of memory thing hadn't helped him out at all. Now Matt was more irritable than before.

"My memory is fine," Matt grumbled under his breath. He went into his room and slammed the door behind him. As soon as he heard his dad pass, he leaned against the door and slid down it with a sigh.

Okay, truthfully he was happy his dad pointed out which room was where. He'd been struggling to remember the entire way up the stairs (they couldn't use the elevator because the doctor's said it would be better if he got exercise, which annoyed him greatly). The reason he snapped at his dad was because he was tired of being hovered over. Everyone treated him like a child; like he couldn't do anything for himself. He had memory loss, not a disease that was going to kill him in three days.

Actually the memories were coming back strong. He remembered a lot about the digital world, including tearing Tai to pieces, and a lot about his band. The band… well… they were… scary. That is, scary to a certain degree. He tried to understand once while he was at the hospital how he had friends that ranged from Izzy and Tai, who were friendly and affectionate, to friends like Akemi and Istu, who were utterly fanatical and uncontrollable. Then there were his friends like Toshiki… Matt hadn't quite figured out Toshiki yet and he wondered how Toshiki could stand being in the band. After a few minutes of thinking on this, Matt's head got fuzzy and he started to feel sick. So he decided then that it was best he didn't try to figure things out.

A knock on his bedroom door made Matt jump. He hadn't heard anyone approach, but then he'd been thinking again, to which he noticed his head felt a little dizzy. He muttered something and got slowly to his feet, having learned going quickly only makes you collapse from nausea. Matt swung the door open, expecting to see his father, although instead he found a smiling Tai.

"Hey Matt. I thought I'd just come over and see how you were doing your first day out of the hospital," Tai said cheerfully. Matt noticed the slight nervousness he had in his voice, something he noticed Tai always seemed to have. He noted to pay more attention to Tai and flashed the brunette a smile.

"I suppose you don't think I can get around either?" Matt asked, playfully trying to sound somewhat putout.

"Well…" Tai started to back away, the smile spreading wider on his face. "If you don't want me around…"

Matt's eyes twinkled. "That would be nice."

He immediately regretted his words because sadness flickered in Tai's features. Matt wasn't sure he'd seen it at first since Tai was smiling again. "I'll let you be then."

"No Tai. I was joking. I'd rather have someone to talk to," Matt said softly. He grabbed the brunette's arm and dragged him inside the room. After he closed the door, Matt jumped on his bed and leaned back to relax. Tai sat down on the end.

"So… Does it feel better to be at home?" Tai asked.

Matt shrugged. "Yeah. I suppose. I've been home for a full five minutes now."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I thought you got back earlier today." Tai sighed. "I wouldn't have come over so quickly if I had known…"

"Nonsense. I like having you around. Besides, I'd rather have you flocking over me than my dad," Matt snorted.

"He's just trying to look out for you," Tai replied softly and smiled at the blonde. "You still act tough even after you've nearly died."

Matt raised his eyebrows at the new statement. He knew Tai hadn't meant to say because as soon as the words were out in the open there was a look of horror on Tai's face. Matt turned his head to one side and stared at the brunette. "What do you mean 'nearly died'?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Tai said quickly, his voice jumping up three octaves. "What I meant was… I was… worried about you! It almost seemed like you were dead because you were in that comma for so long… That's what I meant. Not that you actually nearly died."

Matt sighed. "Tai, I don't have my full memory back, but I know enough about you to tell that you're lying. Don't lie to me, Tai. If I can't trust you, then I can't trust anybody."

"Um… I might get in trouble for telling you this, so if anyone asks, you didn't hear from me…" Tai said uncertainly. He shifted awkwardly on the bed and stared out the floor to avoid Matt's concentrated eyes. "But, uh… well… The day of or after you went into your comma, I can't remember, the doctor's said you had some drug-like stuff in your blood stream. Something they use to contain people, but if you get too much of it in your blood stream it could kill you. That's why you went into the comma. **I** was even arrested because they thought I'd given it to you since the institution has it and that's where I work."

Matt stared at Tai. The new information brought a few memories back to him. The police officers coming to visit him at the hospital and asking him questions like, 'Is there any reason why anyone would want to hurt you?' made a little more sense now. Thinking, Matt remembered the night he'd drifted off and he scanned Tai carefully.

"You came to visit me that night…" Matt said firmly. Tai's head snapped in his direction, his eyes wide and a look of horror and nervousness mixed in his features.

"No… no, Matt… I didn't…" Tai whispered. His voiced faltered and he appeared to be getting even more nervous by the minutes. "I wasn't in here. You didn't see me."

It frustrated Matt that Tai was denying what they both knew was true. Matt sat up and glared furiously at Tai. "You were there, but you… you weren't acting right."

"Matt," Tai murmured, "you're only beginning to remember things from long ago. I don't think you can remember something that happened the night you went into a comma. Not yet."

"Damn it Tai! I know good and well what I saw! You walked into my room through that door!" Matt shouted and pointed at his bedroom door. "I **know** I saw you! Stop denying it!"

Tai jumped off the bed and backed away, wild-eyed like a frightened mouse. His brown eyes sparkled with tears. "No. No. No. I wasn't here. I wasn't."

Matt opened his mouth but his words were muffled by the sound of his father swinging the bedroom door open and catching Tai by the shirt collar. Tai yelped as Mr. Ishida began to drag him out of the room. Matt jumped to his feet, swaying a little at the blood rush, and ran after his father and Tai. He stepped in the hallway to find that Tai was struggling to get away from the older man's tight grip. He finally managed to twist free and dashed to the front door to escape out of the apartment before he could get captured again. Mr. Ishida ran to the open door, screaming something after Tai, and then slammed it shut. He spun around to look at his shocked son.

"Dad, why did you do that?" Matt murmured. His father stepped forward and tightly wrapped an arm around him.

"I came to tell you something but when I heard you mention that he was here the night before you went into that comma, I decided to eavesdrop. But when he kept denying that he wasn't here, it was just too much for me to ignore," his dad answered, hugging him tighter. "Nobody is going to mess with my son and get away with it."

***********

And I didn't finish. **But** I already know what I want to do with this yet I'm not going to continue until I get some more reviews. I'm going to go ahead and start the next chapter, but don't expect to see it posted for a while because I **demand** reviews. I'm a brat aren't I? Yeah, well, I need to go work on my other fic now (you think it took me a long time to post this chapter? HA! I haven't even started the next chapter in my kensuke in forever!) so REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!


	6. And the Streets Were Blue

I just want you all to know that out of all the fanfics I have ever done, this one is the hardest for me to write. I write about two paragraphs and either start writing on another fic, or delete what I just wrote and start over. I've finished two chapters in Interior by the time I've finished one in this! BAAW! This is annoying! But fortunately, I will never have to look at this fic again because this is the last chapter! WHIPPEE!!!

*  *  *  *  * 

Tai was holding his hand and pulling him through the tall grass, only it wasn't grass. The plants were like lily pads that came out of the moist dirt as tall as their knees, making a nice cover across the ground and kept the sunlight out. But there wasn't much sunlight anyway. He couldn't see why. The sun was in the sky. It just seemed… dimmer than usual, like the darkness before the rain. It wasn't hot or cold, just a nice temperature. And water dripped from everything, including the giant mushrooms.

He noticed all this even as Tai pulled him so quickly past all of it. There were people following them, but he wasn't worried. Tai had said earlier that he wouldn't let them get close enough to do any damage. Yet they were getting closer, too close for comfort. This did not faze him, however, and he continued to run behind Tai. They'd be okay. Tai said they would. He trusted Tai more than anyone, even himself. Tai had taken care of him long ago in the digital world and he would do the same now.

Still, as the people got closer, he could see the concern grow stronger on Tai's face. The brunette flashed him a fake assuring smile, and for the first time, he felt a twinge of fear dive through him. Tai ran right under one of the mushrooms, drawing him in closer also, and then promptly sat down on the ground, pulling him down too. He lay down under the cover of the lily pad-like plants close to his friend and listened to the sound of people running past.

Tai's arms tightened around his body as the footsteps and voices got closer. He wanted to see who they were, but Tai held him down. Two people walked within five feet of them and then strode off. Even though they were gone, Tai wouldn't let him stand up. It aggravated him, but Tai appeared to know more about what was going on than he did, so he obeyed and continued to lie silently against the ground. After a few moments, the brunette sat up. He stared up at Tai and got a real smile in return.

"See?" Tai whispered. "I said I would protect you."

Nobody really explained the whole 'Tai being arrested thing' before to Matt so when old accusations rose again, he was quite confused. He watched from the couch as his father paced back and forth in contemplation. Matt wasn't even allowed to speak at the moment. His father completely ignored him, too busy thinking up ways to murder Tai. And soon the police would be there asking him questions, and they wouldn't believe any of his answers because he was still supposed to have memory loss.

Despite his diagnosed 'memory loss' Matt remembered the night of his departure fairly well. He recalled waking up because his arm was burning like it was on fire, and when he looked at it, he could see someone's hands withdrawing a needle. That was when he chose to turn his attention to the figure standing beside him and the other one standing at the foot of his bed. The shadow beside him disappeared out his door and the other one followed, staggering back and forth and holding their head. It was when the person stepped into the moonlight flooding through the window that Matt realized it was Tai. But Tai had been so drunk. He was practically falling with each step. Matt wished he could remember past that but things got fuzzier as agonizing shots whipped through him from his arm.

And who would believe this? No one. Matt tired to explain to his father that Tai had been in his room, but someone else was in there, too. When the police came, they listened to him, but he could see the seriously skeptical looks they were casting at each other and at him. One of them even said that Matt shouldn't try to protect Tai just because they were friends. That annoyed him so much that he got to his feet and stomped to his room, slamming his door behind him.

"Matt, are you listening to me?"

What did the police think they were going to do anyway? They'd better not hurt Tai!

"Earth to Ishida!"

Matt blinked. _Oh yeah… I'm at school._ "Huh? What did you say?"

"How are you feeling? You seemed dazed," Sora replied softly.

"I'm fine." Matt shrugged and began to pick at the food in front of him. "Just perky." 

As it were, Matt was placed back in school exactly three weeks, four days, seven hours, and five minutes before it let out for summer break. And he was having a hell of a time trying to remember people's faces and names. It helped that Sora and Izzy were alongside to whisper in his ear things that would help him remember; yet it wasn't easy. Several people gave him hugs and welcomed him back, but none of them did he remember much about. Sora said that most of them were fan girls and the rest were just people that he was acquainted with.

He honestly didn't care who they were. All he cared about was finding Tai and making sure his friend didn't do something stupid, like jumping off a bridge. Not that Tai would do _that_ necessarily, but something that might end up with him hurting himself unintentionally. He'd never came across as being the type who would try to kill himself, but he did strike Matt as the type of person who would drink excess alcohol to ease pain, guilt, or whatever else was causing the problem, and drinking would definitely hurt Tai in more ways than one.

"He's zoning again."

Matt raised his eyes to Akemi and Istu leaning over him. "I am not."

"Then repeat what I just told you," Gendo called from behind Matt.

He tipped his head over the back of the chair, looking at Gendo upside down. "_You_ didn't tell me anything. _Akemi_ was telling me about some girl he met at a dance club the other night."

"How do you do that?"

Matt lifted his head back to look at Istu with a smile. "I'm just that clever."

Actually being shifted from reality and reams so much, Matt had a keen sense of hearing now. He could follow two different strings of voices at the same time. It was a rather helpful sense as three people were usually talking to him at once. It also gave him the leave-way to concentrate on his thoughts as well as some stupid person – let's use Akemi as an example – who was telling him some stupid story – we'll say that Akemi met a girl at a dance club, just for example's sake.

"I see you…"

Matt's was soft and quiet, barely audible for even him to hear. He crouched in the shadows of the bushes like a feline, eyeing the person on the sidewalk who was looking about confused. Smirking, Matt watched Tai for a few more moments. He'd completely confused his friend by disappearing into the bushes. Tai was, and had been for the past week, following him home every day. And he thought Matt wouldn't notice. Matt shifted his weight and then leapt from the trees, tackling Tai to the ground.

"Gotcha!"

Tai's eyes widened. "Matt…"

"Did you really think I didn't know you were following me, Tai?" Matt laughed. "How stupid do you think I am? And where have you been? Your parents are worried sick about you!"

Tai began to cry. "I'm sorry Matt! I'm so sorry!"

"What?" Matt gasped. He placed a hand over Tai's mouth, muffling the sobs. "Shh… Calm down Tai. If I promise to move my hand, will you promise to shut up?"

Tai nodded and Matt slowly removed his hand.

"You don't hate me then?"

"No," Matt replied softly. "I could never hate you. You're my best friend."

"But I… I…" Tai exploded in sobs again. 

Groaning and rolling his eyes, Matt covered Tai's mouth again. He waited until the sobs lessened before removing his hand once more. "Are you quite finished?"

Tai nodded again. "I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," Matt mumbled. "Now then, we have to talk. Like really talk Tai. And me pinning you down on the sidewalk wasn't what I had in mind. Can we go to your apartment, or do you want to come to mine, or is there some other place that you know of?"

Tai thought for a moment. "I don't want to go to mine. My mom will be there and she'll start hugging me and crying. Is your dad home?"

"No. He works for another hour."

"Then I don't want to go there!" Tai said quickly. "If he comes home and sees me there…"

"Wait! That's a good idea! That gives you and me an hour to straighten everything out, then when he comes home we can explain everything to him!" Matt said cheerfully. He moved off Tai and helped him to his feet also. Tai didn't seem particularly comfortable about the idea of being at the Ishida's when Matt's dad came home, but Matt was already leading him back there so he didn't have much of a protest.

They walked in silence to Matt's apartment. Not that it had been far since they were only just down the corner from it. Tai shifted awkwardly a lot and Matt had to tell him to stop because it was getting annoying. Tai was just about to sit down on the couch when Matt snatched his wrist and pulled him back.

"No. You need to take a quick shower. I will not have you soiling up my clean couch that I vacuumed just last night," Matt said. He led Tai to the bathroom and then went to his room and got Tai some clothes.

Tai took a quick shower. He knew that everything had to be straightened out with Matt before Mr. Ishida came home. He found the clothes Matt had provided for him and slipped into them. Luckily Matt had given him pajamas because there was no way he'd fit into Matt's pants, or shirts. The blonde was just too skinny and tall. The bottoms were so long that he tripped on them several times on his way back to the couch. Nonetheless, he loved that sweet smell that seemed to be Matt.

"Okay," Matt said as Tai sat down. "Now we can talk. First of all, I want to know what your memories of that night are."

Tai shifted again. "Can we start talking about something else first?"

"No Tai. The direct approach is better."

Tai sighed. "Okay then, if you say so… I was drunk. I know that much. I've never been that drunk in my life. And man, did I have a killer hangover! *Matt rolls his eyes* I remember somebody talking to me, but I wasn't paying attention to them. They led me out of the bar and then…"

"And then…?" Matt started when Tai didn't continue.

"Then I was here. I don't remember the trip on the way at all. That's all fuzzy. But I remember leaning over you and you opening your eyes. I thought you said something to me so I stood up. That's where everything gets black. The next time I woke up was in the morning and I was in my bedroom. I told my mom I was sick so she let me stay home. I thought everything with you had been a dream, but when I heard you were in the hospital… oh Frith Matt… I'm so sorry…"

Matt didn't reply, instead starting on his side of the story. "I woke up and you were staring down at me with the oddest smile. I could smell the alcohol and knew you were drunk. But I couldn't seem to wake up fully. It was like I was falling back asleep without wanting to. I felt something pull at my arm so I turned that way and there was someone standing there. They looked at me and said something to you and you jerked away from me, only to drop to the floor. The person seemed upset and started cursing. They looked at me, then grabbed you and left. The person looked at me Tai, directly into my eyes but I can't remember their face. I know now that the pulling I felt was whoever withdrawing a needle from my arm. It's scary to think about. It scares me so much."

Matt had drawn his knees to his chest by the time he was finished. Tai wrapped his arms around Matt's shoulders and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

"No Tai!" Matt shouted and jerked away from his embrace. "This isn't your fault! Didn't you hear me? There was someone else in the room! And don't try to tell me that my memory isn't good like the police did because it is! I can even remember dreams I had! I remember that night like I saw it in a theatre yesterday!"

"I'm sorry Matt… I didn't think…" Tai sniffled and then started crying again.

"Oh no, Tai! Don't cry. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to yell. Don't cry, please don't cry, Tai," Matt begged. _My best friend is emotionally unstable._ He pulled Tai back close to him and kept repeating soothing words. This did not work. Tai cried like there was no tomorrow. _Frith-rah, I do not believe I have ever seen Tai cry this many times in one day. This is rather disturbing._

With nothing else to do, Matt tilted his head down and kissed Tai. When he drew back, Tai had stopped crying and was just blinking with this look of total shock on his face. Then he wiped his eyes and pulled out of Matt's arms, trying to conceal a smile but not doing a good job of it. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Matt, upon realizing what he'd done, was turning red. "I don't know what came over me either."

"Do you like me Matt?"

_Thank you Tai for being so blunt!_ "We aren't talking about that right now."

"So that's a yes! But, um, I know that's not what were talking about so I wont push my luck." Tai flashed him another smile. "Anyway, you were yelling…?"

Matt gave him a sharp look. "There was someone else in the room. I know that for a fact. I think whoever it was was trying to pin the blame on you."

"Yeah, well, I'm dead anyway for drinking." Tai lied down on the couch, using Matt's lap as a pillow. "My dad is going to murder me. The last time he caught me with alcohol I was only a little tipsy and he went off the deep end. It's not going to be fun explaining to him why he has to pay a fine for my getting drunk. Luckily he doesn't know about this yet. I was put in jail for a long time because I didn't tell them where I was that night. Then I told Mimi that I was wasted and she got me out, don't know how, but she did. I have a feeling that she didn't tell them I was under the influence because I didn't die that night when I got home."

"Tai," Matt said, shaking his head, "your entire life is a soap opera."

"Well, Tai, if my son says you didn't do it, then I will accept his opinion. But I think it's about time you gave your parents a call."

Tai stared at Mr. Ishida with a slight pang of fear. "Yes sir."

The elder shot Matt a look and then left the bedroom. Matt turned to Tai with a smile. "See? That didn't go over bad. Now do what he says and call your parents. They've been worried sick from what TK has told me."

"Well," Tai muttered with a frown. "I am not sure that I want to just yet. I don't want to go home."

"And why not?" Matt asked. He slipped his arms around Tai's waist and snuggled closer, quite content when an arm was placed around his shoulders.

"Because I like being able to see you for once without having to sneak through the shadows. Can I stay the night?" Tai asked.

Matt hugged him tighter. "I don't know if my dad would like that. He said he'd accept my opinion, not that he'd accept **you**."

Tai sighed. "I suppose. Where's your phone?"

Tai was at first showered in hugs and kisses when his parents showed up at the Ishida's a few minutes after he called home (they obviously broke the speed limit) and told them where he was. Then he was yelled at for running off without telling anyone where he was going. Then he was murdered when he and matt sat down and told them the same things they told Mr. Ishida: that Tai had indeed been in Matt's room but he was too drunk to remember whom he was with. After that, the police showed up and they had to repeat the entire story all over again and then they had to go down to the police station, where they repeated the story for the fourth time and then were questioned on their own and asked to explain the story once more. All in all, Matt was very tired when he finally got to go home and sleep. Tai, regrettably, had to stay at the station a little longer as they had more questions for him. It was an experience that neither boy wanted to go through **ever** again.

Matt was sent to a psychiatrist a few days after so he could try to remember who'd been in the room. The man there told him that sometimes the people who hurt us seemed to fade from our memory as our mind's attempt to protect ourselves. Like if you saw someone in a nightmare, and woke up only to have them hurt you, if you ever had that nightmare again then they'd be excluded from it. He also told Matt that sometimes the people we trust most were the people who hurt us and that we should shouldn't let them get away with that. Matt knew he was trying to make him accidentally say that Tai had hurt him. It wasn't working. He began to ignore the psychiatrist and only pretended to do the regression hypnosis when trying to remember whom his 'attacker' was. 

The pain was unbearable. The Devil's grip tightened, only this time it was only squeezing his heart, squeezing the life out of him. Or perhaps it was preventing life to get back into him. Maybe he was dead and just didn't know it yet. He was falling up, so maybe he had died and was ascending to the Gates of Heaven. Everything was black. Pitch black, like the depths of the human heart. Whatever was happening, it hurt. Very much.

Suddenly the black turned to light, a bright light, and he was in a pure white room. The pain subsided and then was gone, but he didn't feel like he had a heart anymore, like he was empty. That scared him to know; scared him to not have a heart. If he didn't have a heart anymore then he must be dead. It was only logical. Yet if he were dead then where was he now? Heaven? Hell? Purgatory? … A white room that was about to drive him insane? That sounded right…

Upon thinking of the white room, objects began flying through the air and landing all around him and color flowed like water across the ground, splashing at his shoes and moving up him. It was eerie to watch yourself go from black and white to color. It was even creepier to watch people suddenly appear out of thin air. He recognized them easily as his friends. Then something caught his eye.

The black hole.

Sora and Tai were standing near it, watching him. Talking to him. Tai was showing off about something. Soccer maybe? Sora was just staring at him intently, curiously. He stared back. He knew this. It was so familiar. Had he been there before? Not that he could think of… Yet everything just clicked. And then he saw Koromon, hanging onto the ledge of the black hole. When he went to call Tai for help, his friend had disappeared, as well as Sora.

So he took matters into his own hands. He ran to the hole - still wary of the pain it had caused him - and pulled Koromon up. He didn't know what to do now. He almost expected Tai to come take Koromon from him. Oh well. No need to bug Joe anyway.

Wait, why did that seem familiar? Had he bothered Joe previously?

Oh well. The ice cream in his hand was melting anyway. He tossed it in the hole, seeing if it was a bottomless pit. How would he know? He'd never seen a hole like that before. There was no sound from the ice cream so he figured it was a bottomless pit. It had to be. Weren't all black holes bottomless pits? Kari didn't know either. She shrugged and went back to swinging on the swings.

Why was there a hole in the middle of the stage anyway? That didn't make sense. Joe gave him a dirty look for peering into the hole and the fans seemed upset, too. So he shrugged and stepped back to the front of the stage. He was tempted to gripe at Cody but Tai would get mad. Tai always got upset when he stopped in the middle of a song to gripe at Cody.

He hated being on stage like this… in front of everyone… his band playing horribly. It was a nightmare. And why is Davis staring at him like that? It's unnerving. It's making it hard for him to sing. They needed to practice more. No one likes a band that can't play their instruments. Does Davis have to keep staring at him like that?

Where was the basketball game? He knew they were holding one on the boat, so where was it? Some girl with black told him that it was at the front of the boat, but he couldn't see it anywhere. He shouldn't listen to girls with black hair anyway. Sora would be jealous. There were too many people talking to him for him to care, though. People he didn't know.

He frowned. Where was Tai? Hadn't they just been together? How'd they get split up? No matter. Now where had Tai gone? He managed to run off the boat ramp before it went out to sea. It was taking him forever to get to Sora. He pushed through the crowd to where she was ahead of him. It was hard getting to her. Finally he caught her. She turned around and smiled at him.

"Let's go on that one!"

He looked at Sora. "Okay."

But he didn't follow her. He had to get back somewhere. Back to Sea World… He'd been there since that morning. He loved Sea World and the pink dolphins. Were dolphins always pink? But that wasn't where he wanted to go. He had to get somewhere else. The party.

Something was wrong. Everything started changing colors. But that wasn't supposed to happen yet. He remembered now. Someone or something was missing. 'Someone… somebody isn't here…' he thought.

Yet the colors continued to change, from a pinkish red, to crimson, to yellow. What had he been looking for again? Oh yeah, the mice. The pink and purple talking mice that had been dancing with him, Akemi, and Istu. They'd all been partying with the mice a few seconds earlier. Where was everyone now? The place was deserted, no one around, leaving him completely by himself.

And the streets were blue.

*  *  *  *  * 

Yes, this is the end. No, I will not continue. I am VERY happy to finally be finished with this as it is taking up most of my precious time and yet I still can't seem to think up anything for it (isn't that horribly pathetic?). Do not as me to continue. You don't like the ending, then tough. I meant to drop this fic long ago, but my sister threatened death if I did (actually I do kind of like this, and I – personally – liked the ending, but I know that's only because I wrote it). Anyway, review!


End file.
